Hi
Hope people can help. I was diagnosed with a severe vit d deficiency over 18 months ago. Level then was 20 nmol/L. Told to take supplements, during which time the level dropped to 4 nmol/L. This led to 5 injections of strength 300,000 units over 6 months. Levels picked up to 20 nmol/L. Been told still low and to take capsule of 800 iu daily, as injections no good.

A couple of questions, does the amount of improvement for the strength of the injection sound normal?

Also, how long should it take for my levels to recover to a normal range?

Feel like I am coming to the end of my tether with this and just want it sorted!

Hi
Hope people can help. I was diagnosed with a severe vit d deficiency over 18 months ago. Level then was 20 nmol/L. Told to take supplements, during which time the level dropped to 4 nmol/L. This led to 5 injections of strength 300,000 units over 6 months. Levels picked up to 20 nmol/L. Been told still low and to take capsule of 800 iu daily, as injections no good.

A couple of questions, does the amount of improvement for the strength of the injection sound normal?

Yes it is normal - there is nothing wrong with the injections.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bellaboo123

Also, how long should it take for my levels to recover to a normal range?
.

OK now I need to go into depth.

I had a blood test at the begining of January but didn't get my results until 3 months later. In January my level was measured at 17nmol/l by the end of March I actually had a fractured small toe. I also had difficulty in walking due to my feet hurting whenever I stood up plus other symptoms that had got worse.

When I eventually got my results and got my prescription I did some research which included asking my family and friends who work in various medical jobs.

I'm in England and discovered that:
1. Every NHS area has their own guidelines on treatment let alone every country.

2. Doctors are the worst for recognising Vitamin D deficiency. GPs have been told to test for it for at least 4 years. They will fob people of with symptoms as long as possible because testing people and treating them costs too much of their budget as it's estimated that 70% of the UK population are insufficient or deficient in Vitamin D. The pharmacist actually said my prescription had to be reviewed due to the cost so it delayed me getting my medication for another 10 days. The high dose Vitamin D3 tablets cost the NHS £30.

3. Nurses who have to deal with children and paediatricians are the most knowledgable on the subject. This is due to the legal cases where parents have been accused of child abuse when a child dies or has injuries from rickets, and the mother is also found to be serverely deficient. So now they are all sent on courses covering the subject. Fully qualfied experienced doctors and nurses weren't taught a lot about rickets while training as no-one had seen loads of cases for over 20 years.

4. Children who are deficient are tested at 3 months and expected to have normal blood levels by then.

5. Adult blood levels are expected to rise by 6 months to normal.

6. In the UK in the 50s due to a Vitamin D health scare (like with MMR ) they stopped making children take cod liver oil. I know talking to people who were slightly older at that time that it was normal for adults to take doses as well. Also people were out in the sun a lot more without sun screen.

I was prescribed 60,000iu for 12 weeks then 2,000 iu for 3 months than a maintenance dose of 1,000iu for life. However some US and Australian websites indicate that maintenance dose could be too low. It depends on the quality of the sun in the summer and whether I can get outside at lunch time.

I had a blood test done privately after 3 months and my level was 47nmol/l. The guidelines I managed to find for my area indicate that the nurse was aiming for 50nmol/l i.e. I would be in the sufficient range.

This indicates the dose you have been given following on from your injections is too low. It's actually the dose prescribed for healthy pregnant women by the UK government.

I suffered 9 weeks of servere joint and bone pain when I started taking the high dose Vitamin D3. It was worse than when I was not taking the tablets. This is normal and is part of the bone remodelling process.

Depending where you live in the UK i.e. near a city and if you can afford it, I would recommend you seek private treatment. It isn't hard to treat in the majority of people if the dose is sufficient, but unfortunately the lack of knowledge and will from GPs is making people suffer.

Also while it seems I'm talking down the NHS from the stories I've read it's a large problem in the Western World - medical doctors and nurses including ones who you think would have a clue, seem to be oblivious that due to changes in lifestyle, poor summers in some countries, increases in pollution and most importantly fear of skin cancer mean Vitamin D deficient is becoming a large problem not only in people of colour but in the White population.